Arrr Matey! Could 2017 be the year we welcome a pirate themed MMO, Sea of Thieves?  The game is being developed by Rare and will be published by Microsoft Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One but no official release date has been announced (slated for 2017).

Sea of Thieves is set in a pirate world obviously, and has strong mechanics to force cooperative game play such as requiring one player to navigate the ship while another steers and other players control other various mechanics of the vessel. Players can go on quests for treasure, again requiring a team to work together as a group to locate, dig-up  and safely return the treasure to port.  Using a Division Dark Zone mechanic, a team’s treasure can be plundered by another pirate crew if they’re defeated before returning the treasure chest to a vendor at a nearby port.

The cooperative game play is described in more detail in Rare’s Developer Diary #10 episode:

Reviewing the game play and the art style has really peaked my interest.  I love the style they’ve chosen, similar to Wildstar and the animations the team has created for the ocean is absolutely amazing.  Since there is limited information available and I haven’t been lucky enough to play the closed Alpha, I have more questions than answers.  One of my big concerns, having been a Division player, the similarities of gathering treasure in this game and that of looting in the Dark Zone.  If you’ve played the Division you probably know how that story ends, a bunch of zone camping and less than fun experiences as any effort to complete these missions results in frustration and rage quits.

Rare has setup an “Insider Program” which, if you’re lucky, offers a chance to gain early access to the game and information about Sea of Thieves as it’s released.  I’ll definitely keep an eye on this one and depending on how things unfold, you may see me on the high seas upon release! Arrrrrrr!